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Teddy Sheringham, Poker Player

by Jennifer Newell

Teddy Sheringham was born Edward Paul Sheringham on April 2, 1966 in Highams Park in London, England. As a young boy, he was interested in sports and possessed a deeply competitive spirit, which led him to play football, known in other countries as soccer. He was a talented player and played on a youth team, and it was there at the age of 16 that he was discovered by a football scout and recruited to play as an apprentice for Millwall in 1982. He soon became a first choice pick as a striker, then the top goal scorer for four seasons, from 1986 through 1991. His career as a football star was in full swing.

Sheringham remained at the top of his game and was picked up by Nottingham Forest in 1991 for £2 million, and he then transferred to play with Tottenham Hotspur. Still a hot commodity in 1997, he went to Manchester United in a £3.5 million deal, then back to Hotspur before playing for Portsmouth, West Ham United and finally Colchester United in 2007. During his sting there, he was the oldest player in any division of the Football League and finally retired at the conclusion of the 2007-2008 season. During the decades of his career, he also played on England's national team for two periods, first in 1988 and again from 1993 through 2002.

One of the most recognized players in the game, commonly referred to as one of its legends, and one of the most memorable strikers to have played football in England, Sheringham won numerous honors, including the Treble as a result of his 1998-1999 season with Manchester United when he set up last-minute winning goals in the European Cup final. He was also given an MBE, which stands for "Most Excellent Order of the British Empire," a prestigious title endowed upon him in 2007. With over 350 goals in his career and victories in the Premier League, FA cup, and Champions League, he retired with quite a bit of success on his resume. In addition, he fathered Charlie Sheringham, who has gone on to be a star football player in his own right.

Since his departure from competitive soccer, Sheringham flirted with a return to the field, most notably with Beckenham Town for the 2009-2010 season, but retirement suited him well in his mid-40's. And another sport, as some call it, had taken over a good deal of his time, as he began to hone his skills at the poker tables.

During the last years of his football career, he participated in a few select poker tournaments, usually invitationals like the UK Poker Open and the Poker Million, though his first cash on record was in 2005 when he played in the Fahrenheit Festival in Southend-on-Sea and placed second in a £100 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament for £4,000 in prize money. He also final tabled a Bellagio weekly tournament in 2008 in Las Vegas for a small cash.

But it was a trip to the European Poker Tour's Grand Final events in 2009 that put Sheringham on the poker map. He played in a €4,000 buy-in charity tournament in Monte Carlo and performed quite well, finishing in second place only to poker pro Isabelle Mercier. He was inspired by his abilities there and decided to play more poker in the future. It was soon after that PokerStars also chose him to be in an elite group of players called "Friends of PokerStars." He began playing online at PokerStars periodically under the name "tsheringham" and traveling to more live tournaments sporting the PokerStars logo on his clothing.

In 2009, Sheringham caught the attention of poker fans when he finished 14th in the £10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Main Event in London for £40,481, and shortly thereafter, he cashed in the EPT London Main Event. He finished that EPT season with a cash in the Monte Carlo Main Event. But it was in April of 2010 that he showed what his poker study meant to his game, as he played in the EPT Vilamoura stop in Portugal and plowed through the crowd of 384 players in the €5,000 buy-in NLHE Main Event to make the final table. He faced a tough group there, including Rob Hollink, Sam Trickett, and Toby Lewis, and he ended up finishing in fifth place for €93,121. His performance was given much credit by fellow players and media alike.

Since then, Sheringham has continued to make trips to numerous poker tournaments, with a significant cash in the EPT London Main Event to round out the year. While he does enjoy his retirement and spends a good deal of time supporting his son in his football endeavors, Sheringham will no doubt appear at more European poker tournaments in the coming years.